Naismith, James A: The Judgment Seat ~ Rom 14

Sound Word, State Ministry Queensland. It's now Friday evening, the sixth of April, nineteen ninety. We're at the Wavel Heights Gospel Hall for the continuation in the series, uh, given by guest speaker Dr. James Naismith from Canada. His subject this evening is the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Tonight, we're going to think of some of the things that are going to happen to the Lord's people after the rapture of the church. We're going to think specifically of the judgment seat of Christ and of the marriage of the Lamb. And if the judgment seat of Christ doesn't challenge us, then I don't know what will. Let's turn, if you will, to a few chapters, a few portions about the judgment seat of Christ, and we'll read first of all in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter fourteen. Romans chapter fourteen. Romans fourteen, and we'll begin to read at verse seven. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord, both of the dead and living. But why dost thou judge thy brother, or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Let's turn to the next epistle, the first epistle of Paul to Corinthians, and we'll look into the third chapter. First Corinthians chapter three and verse ten. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me, and as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon, but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon, for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man build upon this foundation, gold and silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. The next chapter in the same epistle, reading at verse five, First Corinthians four and five: Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God. And last of all, in the next epistle, the second epistle to the Corinthians, and we'll read at second Corinthians chapter five, second Corinthians five, and we'll read verses nine, ten, and eleven. Wherefore we labor, that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. And the Lord will bless to us, I'm sure, the public reading of his holy word. If I'm saved from hell and sure of heaven, and every Christian is saved from hell, and every believer is sure of heaven, if that is the case, then I can live as I like upon earth. Right? Wrong. That's wrong. It's wrong for a number of reasons, and I'm going to suggest you three reasons why it's wrong. The first reason it's wrong is because of something that happened in the past. The Lord Jesus died for us on the cross, and when we come to accept him as our savior, we come to love him who loved us and gave himself for us. He gave himself to save us from hell and to give us an assurance of heaven. How can we possibly then say that we can live as we please while we live on earth? Surely we should want to live as he pleases, the one who loves us and the one who profess- whom we profess to love. Secondly, it's wrong because of something that's true in the present. The same Lord Jesus who died to be our Savior now lives as our Lord in heaven above. And if he is not only our Savior, but if he is our Lord, then we are obligated not to live as we like. We are obligated to live as he pleases. Because if we own him as Lord, then we recognize his commands as being obligatory to us to obey. And then thirdly, it's wrong because of something that's going to happen in the future. For you see, the Lord Jesus is not only our Savior who died for us on the cross, and not only our Lord who lives for us at God's right hand, but he is our coming judge, and he's going to come and appear, and we'll appear before him at his judgment seat. And in view of the judgment seat of Christ, it's impossible that we should live as we like. We should live as he likes. And so this evening we're going to think of the third of these great reasons why we should live as he likes, because we're going to be all manifested before the judgment seat of Christ. We've read about several passages in the New Testament that speak about the judgment seat. Two of them specifically mention it, and the other two, uh, speak about what's going to happen at it. And there are other passages that we could read, read as well. And we're going to try to discern some of the great truths of the New Testament on the judgment seat of Christ this evening. First of all, we're going to ask, who is the judge? Who is the judge? Secondly, we're going to ask, who are the judged? And then thirdly, we're going to ask, what is the judgment? First of all, then let's consider the person of the judge. Who is going to be the judge? Well, the very title of it, The Judgment Seat of Christ, indicates that the Lord Jesus is the judge. Now, I'm aware that in Romans chapter fourteen, where we read the judgment seat of Christ, most of the manuscripts say the judgment seat of God. That doesn't make really any difference, because we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is God, and so it's still he who is the judge. And we know too that he has committed all judgment unto the Son. We might ask ourselves the question, why has God committed all judgment unto the Son? Oh, you say, well, because he is the Son of God. And that is true. As the Son of God, he is omniscient, and he is all-wise, and therefore he is the only one who can, with wisdom and knowledge, perfectly judge all mankind, and all judgment's committed to him. But when the Lord Jesus said that all judgment is committed unto the Son, he didn't say because he is the Son of God. He said because he is the Son of man. Why did he say because he is the Son of man? Well, I believe he said because he is the Son of man, because as the Son of man, he has experience of human conditions. He knows all the circumstances through which we pass. He knows all the problems and trials of life. He knows the difficulties that surround our way, for he has experienced them himself, and no one at any of the judgments will be able to talk back to him and say, you can't judge me because you don't know what it's like to live in this earth. He does know exactly what it's like. He's been here before, and he is the judge in that coming day. The judge on that day is going to be the one who lived on earth and the one who died on earth. The one who died to be our savior is going to be the one who is going to review our lives in the light of his infinite knowledge, the judge. The second question we're going to ask is, who are the judged? Who are those who are going to stand before him in that coming day? Well, we've read several verses that indicate it, for example, in ver- verse ten of Romans chapter fourteen, we read, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. In first Corinthians, in second Corinthians chapter five, we wrote, we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. You'll notice two words there, the word we and the word all. We. And the apostle is writing to believers. This isn't a message to unsaved regarding their judgment of the great white throne. This is a message to Christians, to believers. We are going to appear before the Lord Jesus. We are going to be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ. It's we who are addressed in these verses as those who are going to be present when the Lord Jesus sets up his judgment seat. You and I are all going to be there. There's another word that we can notice in these verses, and that is the word all. In First Corinthians three, we read several times, every one of us, every man, every one of us is going to appear there, every one of us. There'll be no excuses in that day. None of us will be able to excuse ourselves on any basis. Every one of us will be there. We may not participate in the service to which he calls us on earth, but none of us can excuse ourselves from his judgment on that coming day, however we have lived here, however well and faithfully or poorly and unfaithfully we have served, every one of us will stand before the judgment seat of Christ in that coming day. None of us can evade it, and none of us can find any excuse to avoid it. Thirdly, let's ask about the judgment, and there are a number of things about the judgment that we are going to consider together. The first thing about the judgment that we are going to think about is its time. When is it going to be? We're not given a specific date about the time of the judgment seat of Christ. It's evident that the judgment seat of Christ is going to occur after the rapture. The Bible describes that day as the day of Christ, or the day of Jesus Christ, or the day of the Lord Jesus. Several phrases like that are used that describe the day of the judgment seat of Christ. In fact, these ver- these words describe all the day of his coming and are going to be with him in his presence, and they include his judgment seat. My suspicion is the judgment seat of Christ is going to occur shortly after the rapture, and it's going to occur before our return, uh, to earth. As a matter of fact, I believe it's going to occur before the marriage of the Lamb. Sometime in that period, when we've been caught up to the air, we'll appear before the judgment seat of Christ. I believe probably, personally, it's going to happen before we are taken into the Father's house, uh, but that's only a conjecture, and I can't find any scripture to justify it, uh, but I believe that's going to happen. In any case, after the rapture, we are going to appear before the Lord Jesus at his judgment seat. The next matter about the judgment we're going to consider is the place of the judgment seat of Christ. And again, we're not specifically told where it's going to happen, and I don't think we should be concerned too much with where it's going to happen. It certainly is going to take place, whether it's in the air or whether it's somewhere else. There's no question that the judgment seat of Christ is going to be set up, and you and I are going to be there. A more important question is, what is the nature of the judgment at the judgment seat of Christ? What is the nature of the judgment? There are at least two kinds of judgment that we read about and that we know about on earth. There's the judgment of the high court, the judgment when a prisoner is called because of some crime that he has committed, and he's called before a judge and is judged as to whether he is innocent or guilty, and punishment is given to that prisoner, and he is sentenced to that particular punishment. That's one form of judgment. And then there's another kind of judgment. I suppose most of us have been to a flower show when a judge assesses, uh, the beauty and the size and the nature of the flowers that are presented at that show and awards prizes on the basis of that flower show. Some of you may have had a lovely baby, and one day you heard that there was a baby competition, a baby judgment, and you may have taken your baby along to that baby show, and there were judges there, and they passed their verdict on whether your baby or somebody else's baby, uh, was the more beautiful and more wonderful baby. And then, of course, there are the Olympic Games or the Commonwealth Games that took place very recently in New Zealand. That's a similar kind of judgment. Uh, the umpires, the judges at these games, they sit in a seat and they award the competitors in accordance with how they have competed and how they have been successful in these games. Well, these are two kinds of judgments. As we anticipate the future, we can readily think that the Great White Throne judgment corresponds to the High Court. It's the time when men and women, the dead of all ages, will appear before the Lord Jesus, the great judge, and will be sentenced to their eternal condemnation. And what a solemn day that's going to be. But the judgment seat of Christ is more like the second type of judgment. The word for the judgment seat is the word bema that was used of the ju- of the seat, the raised platform on which the judges at the Olympic Games in the old days sat and awarded prizes to the competitors, to the athletes who participated in these games. And it seems to me that that's the kind of judgment that's going to take place at the judgment seat of Christ. There is no question at the judgment seat of Christ that anyone will be condemned for the sins they have committed and sentenced to eternal judgment. You see, for us, that judgment has already passed. When the Lord Jesus died for our sins on Calvary's cross, he bore the judgment due to our sins, and now we can say there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus said, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. And so I believe for certainty that there is no danger of eternal judgment for those who have put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who have confessed him as Lord and Savior. But at the judgment seat of Christ, there is a reward given for the race that we have ran, for the match that we've engaged in as we've been in this world. There's a reward for the service that we've rendered to the Lord, and the Lord is going to assess the lives that we have, have led and the service that we have rendered for him, and he is going to pass his judgment, and he is going to give his rewards for what we have done for him and how we have lived for him. So the Christian life is like a race, and the judgment seat of Christ is like the assessment of the judge of the race that you and I have, have run and the life that we have lived, and the rewards will be given in accordance with our faithfulness and devotion to him. Let's think next of the basis of this judgment, the basis of this judgment. This, this judgment is going to be on the basis of certain things that are going to be reviewed at the judgment seat of Christ. I'd like you to turn with me to one or two of the passages that we have read to see what is going to be reviewed. Let's look at First Corinthians chapter three first of all. First Corinthians chapter three and verse thirteen. We are told in verse thirteen, every man's work shall be made manifest. Now, in this chapter, the apostle is speaking specifically about those who are ministers of the word, those who are servants building up a local church. But the words that he uses and the principles that he indicates are applicable to all of us in all of our service for the Lord. I don't think we need to limit it to those who are ministers, who are servants of the Lord ministering to the church. Uh, they apply to every one of us in our service for the Lord, and I think these principles are important for all of us to consider. And so we read here, every man's work shall be made manifest. Note these two last words, made manifest. And this verse tells us that at the judgment seat of Christ, the service that we have r- given to the Lord will be reviewed by the Lord in that day. It'll be made manifest. Our service will be reviewed. Now let's look at the next chapter where we read in verse five of First Corinthians four, and there we read in the middle of the verse that he will make manifest the counsels of the heart. The word make manifest is the same word as we read in First Corinthians three. Here it's used in the active sense. God, the Lord, will make manifest. Not only will our service be revealed, but our secrets will be revealed. Not only the things that we do, but the motives that prompt us to do it, the reason why we did it. So the Lord Jesus will look beyond the outer works that we have done, and he will look into our hearts, and he will discern with his all-seeing eye what has motivated us to do that service. What is the objective we have in doing it? Whether we've done it for his glory or for our good. Whether we've done it for our, for our, uh, blessing or the blessing of others. The motivation of our service, the secrets will be revealed. And so, first of all, our service will be revealed, and secondly, our secrets will be revealed. Now let's turn to the third, the next passage that we read in second Corinthians chapter five. and in second Corinthians five and verse ten, we are told we must all appear. And that word appear could be well translated be manifested, for it's the same word that's used in First Corinthians three and First Corinthians four. In First Corinthians three, it's our service that's going to be revealed. In 1, in First Corinthians four, it's our secrets that are going to be revealed. In Second Corinthians five, it's ourselves that are going to be revealed. In that day, our lives are going to be reviewed by the omniscient wisdom and discernment of the Lord Jesus, and all that we have done will be reviewed in his presence and before ourselves. You say, well, is this review going to be a public review or a private review? Well, we're not specifically told. I can only voice my opinion, and it's not really worth anything, but my suspicion that it's going to be a private review with every individual. Sometimes there may be others called in when our lives are impacted on the lives of other people. It may be the Lord will bring two of us together or three of us together and review that portion of our lives. But it's not for me to dictate to an all-wise Lord as to how he's going to do that. We'll need to wait that coming day and see how he reviews us in that coming day. The judgment seat of Christ then is going to be a review of our service. It's going to be a review of our secrets. It's going to be a review of ourselves. And we're going to notice in First Corinthians three some very important thoughts about this review. I want you to notice, uh, two phrases that we read in First Corinthians three, Verse ten of First Corinthians three. the end of the verse says, but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereon. How he buildeth thereon. That's an important little word, how. And let's, in con- conjunction with that, read verse thirteen of the same chapter. Verse thirteen says, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is, of what sort it is. In other words, the Lord is indicating that the review will take into account the quality of our service. Now, that doesn't mean to say there's no evidence of the quantity of our service. The quantity is going to be of importance. Uh, we are told in the story of the parable of the pounds, uh, that the nobleman who went to the far country came back, and he wanted to assess how much each had gained by their trading as they occupied Telica. So how much is important, but the matter of great importance is how, the quality rather than the quantity. I'm s- I suppose all of us have looked for a, a bargain at some bargain basement, some great sale. Maybe we found a bargain that we, uh, uh, we paid a very little for. A bargain has been defined as something we don't need at a price we can't resist. And sometimes when we receive that bargain, and we receive it at a price, we discover even at that price we paid too much for it. The quality wasn't there, and I'm sure every one of us has been disappointed by some of the, the bargains that we thought were bargains. What kind of quality is your service for the Lord? What kind of quality is your life? I trust that we are not putting rubbish into our service for the Lord. We'll see in a moment or two just what kind of quality service we can render for the Lord, whether it's gold and silver and precious stones or wood, hay, and stubble. The important point that I want to emphasize at this moment is the fact that it's how we serve the Lord. It's the what sort it is, the quality of our lives and the quality of our service that's going to be important in that particular day. Now, the next thing we want to notice about the judgment is its intensity, the intensity of that judgment. Now, I want you to notice in verse, uh, thirteen again, this is a great and important verse. Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. The fire. This will be a fire that will try our work. You mean to say, you say that this is the lake of fire? No, it's not the lake of fire. What is this fire that's going to try every man's work of what sort it is. I believe we can link this verse with a verse in Revelation chapter one. You remember in Revelation chapter one, the Apostle John had a wonderful vision. It was a vision of one light unto the Son of Man, and he describes the features and the garments of that wonderful person that he had lived with during his sojourn on earth. And one of the descriptions he makes is that his eyes were as a flame of fire. What did he mean his eyes were as a flame of fire? Well, he meant that these eyes were all discerning. Uh, they could pierce right into the innermost secrets of the hearts of those seven churches that he was going to write letters to in the next two chapters. His eyes as a flame of fire indicate the omniscient, discerning wisdom of the Lord Jesus. And I believe that corresponds to the five here. They'll be tried as by fire in the light of the omniscient, wise discernment of the Lord Jesus. He's going to look into our lives and is going to try every man's way of what sort it is. How important it is then to, to evaluate our lives and our service as to their quality in the light of the Lord's discernment. I read a story a number of years ago, the story of a man who was a builder. Of course, he had a number of employees, including a foreman, and one day his daughter fell in love with the foreman, and they got married. And after they were married, the builder went on a long trip, a long holiday. He said to the, the, the foreman, I'd like you to, to build this house when I'm away. And he gave him instructions about the house he was to build. In his absence on business, the foreman built that house. But unfortunately, he put poor, shoddy material into that building, and he put poor quality workmanship into that building. He cut every corner he could. He made it look good, and there was a veneer of appearance. It looked good. In the end, the builder came back, and the fore quick to show him the work he had done on this house. He took him around the house. It looked all very good. And after he had finished it, the builder come to him and said, thank you for building this house. This house is my wedding present to my daughter. It's your house now and hers. Well, you can imagine how that foreman felt in the days that lay ahead. You can imagine what he said. This is what he said. Oh, if I had only known it was my house that I was build. My friends, you and I are building. We are building by our lives and by our service in view of eternity, and we are building our house. One day, the quality will be revealed and seen. Let's be sure that we build quality material into the house, into the work we are doing. And then we want to notice the result of this judgment seat of Christ, the result of this judgment. There are obviously two kinds of results that can come from at the judgment seat of Christ, from the review of our lives and the review of our service. Whether it be good, says uh first second Corinthians five, or bad, or good for nothing, or worthless. There are going to be two kinds of results. In first Corinthians three, we are told about these two kinds of results. There's, first of all, the reward for those who have been building quality material. Look at, uh, verse, uh, fourteen of first Corinthians three. If any man's work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. Now look at verse twelve and see the kind of material that can be put into it. If any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, there's one group, and wood, hay, stubble, there's another group. And you can imagine what the fire will do to the gold and silver and precious stones. It'll survive the fire. And you can imagine what the fire will do to the wood, hay, and stubble. It will not survive the fire. In other words, there are those things in our service that are permanent, and those things that are perishing. There are those things that bring glory and honor to the Lord, and there are those things that don't bring glory and honor to him. And it's very important that we assess what we are doing in the light of that judgment seat of Christ. Gold, silver, precious stones. Probably the picture here that the apostle is drawing of the fire and the gold, silver, and precious stones may have been drawn from an incident in ancient life in the Roman Empire. In the, in any village, there would be many different kinds of houses. There'd be houses that were stately mansions, uh, that had, uh, very great, costly stones of marble and so forth, uh, that were built into that house, uh, that would have, uh, ornaments of gold and silver. And alongside them, there would be some wooden shacks with thatched roofs, just wood, hay, and stubble. And one day there would come to this, uh, village or town a great conflagration. It would sweep and spread through that village. You know what would happen. Those shacks that were built of wood, hay, and straw, they would go up in flames. There would be nothing left of them. But the houses that were of costly stones, the houses that had gold and silver, they would survive the fire. And so the apostle says in that day, uh, there are those whose work's going to remain. They're going to remain in that coming day. The work that they've done has been of gold and silver and costly stones, and it's going to remain. It's going to abide the test of the fire. What kind of service is that? That service is service that has been rendered for the Lord out of pure motivation. Service that has been done for the glory of God. It's gold service. Gold speaks of God and his glory, and the service that's been rendered not for my glory, but for God's glory, is the service that's going to last when the fire of God's, of the Lord's omniscient discernment appears in our service. And then there's the silver. Silver speaks in the Bible of redemption, and that speaks of the service that has been done in the light of the redemptive work of Calvary, out of love for the one who died to redeem us by the shedding of his own precious blood, and service that has been done out of love for him is quality service that's going to abide the test of the fire. And there is the precious stones, the costly stones. That's the service of beautiful character, the service of lives that have been built upon the word of God, that have been strengthened with the strength of God, that service of lives that have been devoted to the scriptures of truth. Is that the kind of service that you're rendering for the Lord? Or is it wood, hay, and stubble? What's that? That service that's been rendered for my good. Service that's been rendered because other people pat my back and say, that's a, a great work you're doing. Service that's been done so that I may be exalted, and not that Christ may be exalted and glorified. What kind of service are you rendering for the Lord Jesus? I want you to notice one significant phrase before we leave this point, and that is the phrase that we read in verse uh fifteen. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. You see, some of us may receive a reward for the service that we have rendered, but it's possible in that day that we shall suffer loss. It's possible at the judgment seat that we'll lose the reward that we might have had if we had served in the way that we should have done. It's possible also in the day of the judgment seat of Christ, as John speaks in his second chapter of the first epistle, that we may be ashamed before him at his coming. I trust our service isn't like that, that we are serving in a way that will bring reward, but it's possible that we shall suffer loss. But the phrase I want you to notice is the next phrase, he himself shall be saved. You see, this is one of the verses that's used, uh, by those who believe in the falling away doctrine, and it's one of the verses that most strongly indicates the eternal security of the believer. It's possible for our work to go up in flames, but we shall be saved, yet so as by fire. There's the truth of scripture. He shall be saved, yet so as by fire. That concludes the truth of our eternal security. And we could go on if we had time, but we want to spend a little time on the marriage of the Lamb. We could go on to think of some of the rewards that are going to be ours. If you look through the New Testament, you'll discover there are a number of crowns, uh, that Christians can receive in that coming day. In First Corinthians nine, we read about the incorruptible crown. That's the crown that strivers are going to receive as they strive in the race before them to, to run well. And then in Second Timothy chapter four, we read of the crown of righteousness, which is given to all those that love his appearing. That's the crown of faithful stewards and faithful sh- soldiers who fight a good fight and who keep the faith in that coming day. And then we read about the crown of rejoicing in First Thessalonians chapter two. That's the crown of the soul winner who has served the Lord and is going to be rejoicing in that coming day, for these souls that they have brought to the Lord are going to be their source of joy. Then in James one and Revelation two, we read about the crown of life. That's the sufferer's crown. Those who have passed through the trials of life, some even to martyrdom, as in Revelation two, and they're going to receive a crown of life, those who have suffered even unto death. And then finally, there's the crown of glory that we read about in First Peter chapter five, and that's the shepherd's crown that's given to godly and faithful elders who have served the Lord as shepherds, as elders, as overseers in the flock. And these crowns are available to us as we seek to serve the Lord, as we seek to witness for him. Finally, as we think of the judgment seat of Christ, let's think of the influence that this should have on our lives. For surely we can't neglect that. What an influence this should have on our lives as we anticipate, uh, the judgment seat of Christ. If we were to think of it day by day, and if we are to allow it to affect our living all the time, we would cease to live for self, and we would live for Christ. Not for our glory, but for his honor. Not no- not so much for our blessing as the blessing of others to whom we are called to witness and serve. And at the day of the judgment seat of Christ, if we've lived for him, then we'll get the well done, thou good and faithful servant, and we'll receive the reward that he has for those who serve him faithfully. He is coming. Oh, how solemn when the judge's voice is heard, and in his own light he shows us every thought and act and word, deeds of merit as we thought them. He will show us were but sin, little acts we had forgotten, he will tell us were for him. Let's turn over, if you will, to the last book of the Bible, and we're going to read about the marriage of the Lamb. Very briefly, we're going to read in Revelation chapter, uh, nineteen. Revelation chapter nineteen. Revelation chapter nineteen and verse seven. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, these are the true sayings of God. In the course of history, there have been many marriages. I suppose all of us have been at a marriage from time to time, and I suppose all of us would consider our own marriage the most important marriage that we've ever been at. But it's not the most important marriage of all time. Here is the most important and the most wonderful marriage of all human history. It will surpass all other marriages, and we're going to look at it a little briefly this evening, and we're going to think, first of all, when is this going to happen? The time of the marriage. It's not hard to discern the time of the marriage because the verses immediately following this marriage are verses that speak of the return of the Lord to earth. For the marriage of the Lamb is going to occur just prior to the Lord's return to earth, and we'll be thinking about that on Sunday afternoon in the will of the Lord, just prior to the Lord's return to earth to reign. And then let's think of the place of the marriage. Where is this going to take place? Well, if we look at verse eleven and read about the return to earth, we read, and I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse and he that sat upon it. And verse fourteen, and the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. It's evident that the Lord Jesus, who is obviously, as we're going to see in a moment, the bridegroom at this marriage, and those who are his followers, are going to come out of heaven to earth, to the battle of Armageddon. And if that is the case, then they must have been in heaven before they came out of heaven. And so it's clear that the marriage of the Lamb is going to take place in heaven. This is a heavenly scene. Let's think, who is the bridegroom? In earthly marriages, the bridegroom takes second place. At my marriage, I know that I took second place. Nobody was very much interested in me. They were all interested in my bride. And the same happens at any of the weddings that I've been interested in. People say, well, what was she wearing? And it's the bride that takes the interest of the people at an earthly wedding. At least that's what it is in Canada and in Britain, and I suppose it's the same in Australia. But in this marriage, it's not the bride who's first important, it's the bridegroom. And who is the bridegroom? Well, he's described here as the lamb, the marriage of the Lamb. The Lamb, of course, is none other than the Lord Jesus. It seems to me that that is John's favorite title for the Lord Jesus in this great book. Twenty eight times over he uses the word the Lamb. I believe twenty seven of these are about the Lord himself. He is the Lamb. He is the supreme person at this great marriage. And when we think of the Lamb, it's a reminder of his sacrifice, for he is the one who died for us to purchase the bride, and he purchased her at infinite cost. He's the Lamb of God that gave himself to take away the sin of the world. And then who is the bride? Well, the bride, I believe, includes believers of this age. Every believer from Pentecost to the rapture will be included in the bride. The bride is the church. If you read in Ephesians five, we read that the Lord loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that should be holy and without blame, without blemish. The Lord Jesus is the bridegroom, and the church, you and I belonging to it, who have trusted him as our personal savior, are going to constitute the bride in that glorious day when we'll be presented pure and spotless and holy and glorious to the Lord Jesus. We'll pres- be presented to himself. We are the bride. Then let's notice the garments of the bride. At any wedding, the question is asked, what was she wearing? Well, what will we be wearing? Well, we're told what the garments are in verse eight. To her was granted that she should be arraigned in, arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. What is that? Oh, you say, that's the righteousness of Christ. No, it's not. That's not the righteousness of Christ. It's true that we are clothed in Christ's righteousness, and that we are clothed in righteousness that's not our own. But that day, we're going to be wearing a special wedding dress. What is that righteousness? Well, we're told what it is. The fine linen is the righteousness of saints, or the righteousnesses of saints, as it should read, because it's a plural word. In other words, the bride is weaving today the garment that she's going to be wearing on her wedding day. The bride is weaving that garment today, and the righteous acts that we are doing are going to constitute the garment that we are going to wear in that coming day of glory when we are presented by the Lord Jesus to himself. You notice that we are told that she, that his wife hath made herself ready. That's at the end of verse seven. His wife has made herself ready. How has she made herself ready? I take that to be a reference to what's happened at the judgment seat of Christ, when things that have been worthless and useless have been destroyed and cast away, and only those things that are bringing glory to the Lord are going to be left. The bride, the wife has made herself ready. I believe that's an indication and a reference to the judgment seat of Christ. And then finally, let's notice the guests. There are guests at this great wedding, and we read about the guests in, uh, verse, uh, nine of this ver- this chapter. And he saith unto me, Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. Those who are called, those who are invited, these are the guests. And you'll notice it says, blessed are they. In the book of Revelation, there are seven blesseds, seven beatitudes, and this is the very center one. This is the fourth of the seven beatitudes. It's a ble- it's the, the blessing that's pronounced upon the guests who are going to be there. Who are they? Well, many conjectures have been made of the guests at that, at that wedding. I think I indicated last evening what my conjecture is. I believe they are preeminently the Old Testament saints. There may be other guests on that occasion, but I, my personal conviction is that these are John the Baptist and all the Old Testament saints that, uh, that he represented when he spoke of himself as the friend of the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom's going to be there, the invited guest, and all the saints of the Old Testament are going to join on that coming day. There may be other guests, some have conjectured that the angels may be guests, and true as well. I believe the main guests are the Old Testament saints. We're going to be the bride, and they're going to be the guests on that coming. Now let's think of the, the honeymoon. And the honeymoon is going to take place, as we are told in the next few verses, at the return of the Lord to earth, and he's going to come with his bride in glory. For we are told in Colossians chapter three that when he shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. And in second Thessalonians chapter one, we are told the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels when he shall come to be glorified in his saints. We're going to be there. We're going to come from heaven in that, in that great and wonderful event when the Lord Jesus returns to earth. The marriage of the Lamb. What a great, great day that's going to be. And all of us are going to be there on that coming day. In the moment, at the me- in the meantime, let's see to ourselves, let's see to it that each one of us is participating in these acts of righteousness, these acts that are going to be constituting the garment that the bride is going to wear at the coming of the Lord Jesus, at the marriage of the Lamb. May the Lord help us to be influenced by the judgment seat of Christ and by the marriage of the Lamb, so that when he appears, we shall not be ashamed before him at his coming. Let's bow together in prayer, please.